The critical illness insurance cover is a new type of policy available to people in Canada., The policy was first introduced by a South African doctor, Dr. Marius Barnard, in 1983 and was latter brought into the Canadian market by Canada life insurance companies. The insurance policy provides lump-sum compensation of the policy value when the insured is diagnosed with a critical illness.
Characteristic of Critical illness Insurance
Critical illness insurance policies value ranges from $25,000 up to $2,000,000 and the cover term is usually for10 years renewable until one attains an age of 65, 75 or 100 years depending on the policy type. The policy may either be bought separately or as a combined life and critical illness insurance policy. The policy is usually available to people between the age of 18 to 65 years. Under this policy, the benefit value is paid after a period of time, usually 30 days, after diagnosis of the critical illness. Most critical illness insurance Ontario policies will also include a refund of all the critical illness insurance rates paid if the insured dies. However, different policy variations exist for different policy types and for different insurance companies and therefore, critical illness insurance quotes from different companies will differ drastically.
Critical Illnesses
Different critical illness insurance Canada companies will provide cover for different critical diseases. However in general, the diseases covered under this policy type include cancer, stroke, heart attack, paralysis, multiple sclerosis, blindness, motor neuron disease (ALS), severe burns, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, deafness ,coronary artery bypass surgery, multiple sclerosis and major organ failure. However, the most common critical illnesses that attack people in Canada are cancer, heart attack and stroke.
Why Consider Critical Illness Insurance
According to Canada statistics, a Canadian is more likely to get a critical illness than to die before age 75. According to the National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC), over 200,000 people are diagnosed with cancer in Canada every year with an over 70% survival rate. The survival rate for people who get heart attacks and strokes is also very high. Therefore, the critical illness insurance is a reasonable safeguard against any excessive financial eventualities that may arise from such critical illnesses.
Advantages of Taking out the Insurance Cover
The critical illness insurance cover enables you to make various adjustments with financial implications that may improve your life after a critical illness. If you are disabled for example, you can make adjustments to your house to enable you navigate more easily. You can also purchase a special vehicle or a more sophisticated wheel chair that may not be covered under regular medical cover.
Critical illness cover also provides for income substitution for spouses of insured person if they get critically ill. You can also afford to get home nursing services to assist the ill person.
With many of these critical illnesses, there are more expensive medical options and technologies available to treat or manage the condition. However, most of these more expensive treatment options will not be covered under regular medical covers. The critical illness cover will therefore enables you to pay for the latest available treatment to manage your critical illness.
You can also choose to spend you last days traveling or doing what you love. You can also use the funds from the critical illness insurance pay out to handle financial responsibilities so as to take additional leave from work to recover and rest.
